Hello!
My fiancee and I are planning a nine-day honeymoon in CR from Dec 30 though Jan 8. We have reservations at the La Mansion Inn in MA for the last four nights of our trip. I had wanted to spend three nights a Hotel Punta Islita and then two nights in Arenal but have missed the boat on Hotel Punta Islita. Right now there is availability at the Inn at Coyote Mountain for five nights or the La Mansion Arenal for the same nights. I am looking for a recommendation for one of the two, or possible ideas for other "a little less rustic but not the 4Seasons" accomodations for those first five nights in the Guanacaste and/or Arenal regions. Please forgive me if I have misspelled the regional names. Thank you.

You might do a search on Fodor's for La Mansion at Arenal. There have been several posts about it in the last few months.

In Guanacaste, Flamingo Beach Resort is a nice hotel on a great beach. Also, in Tamarindo, about 30 minutes from Playa Flamingo, there are very nice accomodations. Check out Capitan Suizo, Cala Luna, Jardin de Eden.

Congratulations! Great place to honeymoon!

Shillmac,
Thank you for your quick reply, definitely needed with time running out quickly. I will look into all of your recommendations. Thanks again,

JLR

JLR-

If you decide to stay at the Jardin de Eden in Tamarindo make sure you ask for one of the rooms in the remodeled side of the hotel. We just stayed there in January and really enjoyed it. The hotel is lovely, the pool is great, and the rooms were very nice. Fair warning though we didn't like the beach that much or care too much for the town so we spent most of the time hanging out by the pool.

JLR, sorry I didn't see this post earlier, but at the risk of my reply being too late... My fiance and I stayed at La Mansion Arenal on our trip to CR a few months ago, and it was definitely a highlight. We loved our little cottage, which had such unique decor and amazing views. We're not really used to going "rustic," and this was definitely not the Four Seasons, but it was quite comfortable. Clean and all that. But the warm, efficient service made up for everything; plus the food is superb, great quality. Don't know if you're renting a car, but it's a good idea to have one in this area because there's nothing really in walking distance of La Mansion (but we liked it for that!).

LisaLH,
Thanks for the reply. We decided, actually I decided that since we will be staying at the La Mansion in Quepos, it would be a good idea not to stay at the La Mansion Arenal. Don't want to have too many eggs in one basket. But I'm glad to hear the rave reviews because it portends to good times in Quepos. We will actually be staying at the Inn at Coyote Mountain in San Ramon for a couple of nights. A little south of Arenal but we were told that it still is an easy day trip up there. After that we're heading over to Hotel Punta Islita near Montezuma for a few more nights before ending our trip in Quepos at La Mansion. Thanks again.

You will sooooo enjoy Punta Islita. As honeymooners, you should definitely go for the private romantic dinner. It is a candlelit, private table setting on the garden adjacent to the beach. Amazing!

You might want to check into the status of La Mansion in Quepos. I saw another thread which posted pictures of some pretty bad earthquake damage they suffered last week.